Smoking product



Oct. 15, 1957 J, u, KOREE 2,809,904

' SMOKING PRODUCT Filed Nov. 17, 1954 COMMINUTE BAGASSE BALL MILL o2 COLLOID MILL CAST SLURRY INTO FILM DRY FILM INVENTORL JEAN U. KOREE ATTOQNEY with which I am acquainted.

' is in a fibrous condition when burned.

SMOKING PRODUCT Jean U. Koree, New York, N. Y., assignor to The Raymar Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York A Application November 17, 1954, Serial No. 469,371 5 Claims. (Cl. 131-2) This invention relates to a new type of smoking product and is directed particularly to products consisting essentially of bagasse and to methods of producing and using such products.

In my issued Patent No. 2,576,021, I have described a I have now discovered that when bagasse is ground in :a ball mill or the like until it is largely reduced to a colloidal condition of the corpuscular type, and is thereafter formed into an integral sheet, the smoke produced on burning thereof possesses a new and characteristic tang and flavor and a pleasing new aroma. The smoke differs materially from that of tobacco or from any other product It has somewhat the flavor of tea or sage and is smooth, brisk or tangy and very pleasing and satisfying in effect. Moreover, the smoke differs materially from that produced when the bagasse It is quite possible that the difference in the amount, character, flavor and aroma of the smoke is due to the fact that bagasse fibers present a very extensive surface area as compared with their volume and, accordingly, when burned, they undergo a different and more rapid type of combustion. The smoke resulting from fibrous bagasse is of a different and more acrid type and contains acroleins and irritation producing aldehydes. Moreover, the rapid burning of bagasse fibers apparently destroys or impairs certain of the aromatic or flavor imparting ingredients contained in bagasse. In contrast, the smoke produced on burning of a non-fibrous sheet wherein most or all of the bagasse has a pH below 7 and generally about 4 or 5. Furthermore, the smoke does not contain nicotine or the tars and constituents of tobacco smoke which are generally believed to be injurious to health.

It is an object of the present invention to produce a new type of smoking product which consists essentially of non-fibrous integral sheets or shreds of bagasse.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel methods for producing integral sheets or shreds of bagasse wherein the bagasse is largely in the form of corpuscular colloidal particles.

A further object of the invention is to produce a smoking product consisting essentially of bagasse and having the property when burned of producing a smoke having a characteristic flavor and aroma differing materially from that of tobacco or fibrous bagasse.

These and other objects and features of the present invention will appear from the following description thereof wherein reference is made to the flow diagram of the accompanying drawing.

The bagasse product of the present invention is preferably produced by grinding the bagasse with water or other liquid in a ball mill or colloid mill or by otherwise United States PateatQ 17 2,809,904 Patented Oct. 15, 1957 ice ' treating the bagasse so as to reduce it to a colloidal condition of the corpuscular type. The resulting slurry containing colloidal bagasse is thereafter cast or otherwise formed into a film and the water or liquid is removed whereby a continuous integral sheet of bagasse is produced. The product contains substantially all of the original constituents of the bagasse in a chemically unaltered state or in such a condition that the full flavor and aroma of the product is preserved.

The resulting sheet of corpuscular colloidal bagasse may be shredded or otherwise comminuted to form a product suitable for smoking in a pipe or adapted to be formed into cigarettes with a wrapper of cigarette paper or a wrapper formed of the bagasse sheet material itself. The sheeted material also may be used as a wrapper for tobacco similar to the conventional cigarette paper or the sheet may be wrapped and folded to form cigars or similar products which, when smoked, will possess the characteristic aroma and flavor of bagasse as distinguished from tobacco. The sheets further may be compacted into a mass for use as a chewing product or it may be comminuted and ground into a powder usable in the same manner as snuff.

In forming the sheet material of the present invention, the bagasse is preferably ground up or chopped into short lengths by attrition or otherwise and thereafter is ground in a ball mill with water for from 2 to 16 hours. If the bagasse is ground for less than about 2 hours, the sheet 'material thereafter'formed contains an excessive amount of undestroyed fibers which impair the properties of the sheet itself and further impair the flavor and aroma of the smoke produced on burning the material. On the other hand, if the bagasse is ground in a ball mill for more than about 16 hours, the product is not materially improved whereas the cost of manufacture is considerably increased.

The amount of water used in carrying out the colloiding operation does not appear to be very important provided it is sufficient to produce a slurry of suitable consistency. Generally, at least 5 and preferably about 8 parts by weight of water are used for each part of bagasse. Moreover, agents which accelerate hydration or gelling of the cellulose may be added to the water. For this purpose, I may use ammonia,.calcium hydroxide, or mild acids such as acetic, lactic or tartaric acid. Further, it is sometimes desirable to add a combustible film forming agent to increase the strength and flexibility of the sheet produced. Typical agents of this character are polyvinyl alcohol, gelatin, carboxy methyl cellulose, carboxy ethyl cellulose, starch, vegetable glues, agar, elemi, gum tragacanth, and the like. These substances may be added in amounts varying from 1 to 20% by weight based upon the weight of the dry bagasse in the product. Agents also may be added to the film forming slurry to alter the burning characteristics of the product. Thus, for example, sodium or potassium nitrate or hydrated alumina, ammonium borate or other combustion controlling agents may be addedto the composition in suitable amounts up to 10% by weight of the bagasse for varying the rate of combustion of the product.

It is also desirable, in some instances, to add hygroscopic materials or humectants to the product to prevent drying out of the sheet when formed. For this purpose, glycerine, diethylene glycol and the like may be added to the material during the grinding or disintegration thereof, or they may be added to the resulting slurry before the material is formed into a film and dried to form a sheet. Such agents also may be sprayed on to the finished sheet if desired, and such spraying of the sheet material is sometimes preferred since hygroscopic materiais tend to retard the drying and sheet formation of the films from which the product is produced.

. about 8. times its,we ight of.water. mill serves to .breakiup, the. fibers into short, lengths such that thebagasse is largely. reduced to theformof corpuscular colloidal particles. .This may bev effected provided the grinding is continued for from 2 to 16 hours and preferably about 4,hours. ,colloidin g.operation is .carried.outis preferably in the :dition of thecorpuscular type. flexibilityan dwas,suificiently strong to permit it to be For some purposes, and particularly when a relatively heavy ash is desired, the composition may include inert filler materials such as finely divided clay, bentonite, kieselguhr, ,calcium ,cartbon ate zincnoxide .or the like. ,Such fillers maybe added in amounts up. to 5% :by .weight based upon the Weightoftthe ,bagasse. ,tThe y. are preferably..added while: the. .fbagasse is, undergoing treatment in the ball mill in order that. they, may ,be. uniformly .distributed and incorporated ,in' the. colloidaLcomposition.

In. producingna slurry for. casting into, a .filnrthe product from.,the{;ball. rnill or ,colloid mill.,rriay, if desired, be

filtered after incomplete or,, lirnited grinding .or .dispersion of the. ba asse. and ma mal); partially vgroundrnaterial remaining .on -a..60 mesh. screen, for example, may be returned .to [the ballfm ill while. the liquid .containing the colloidal .or,.d ispersed,bagasse may be;used in forming a .film. :,Hwever,lwh en.rb agasse ground in a .ball mill for 41w 6..hours.or rnore, such. filtering is not generally .necessary lsince [,the majorportion ofthe; bagasse is usually dispersed.

, In order -to.,.il lustrate, typical procedure in accordance with .the present invention, theprocess may be carried out pasiindicated,bythejflow sheet of the drawing. If desired, the bagassemay firstbe.washedto eliminate watersoluble constituents .altliough' washing. is.not. necessary and the loss' of sugars may even be detrimental. Itis then ground vorcomrninuted soas to shortenv the period required to re- .ducethe bagasse to a. colloidal.condition. -The,.bagasse is the reaftersubjected. totreatment in a ball mill with Grindingin. the ball The temperature atwhich the range. from about.20"..vC..to 70 C. and .conveniently can .be conducted; at room. temperature.

The resulting slurry is thereafter cast or spread in a film upon a conveyor,,rotating drum or other film forming device, and thewateris evaporated by mild heating with or without the use of reduced pressure.

The film therebyobtainedmay then be. cut or shredded to form the desired pieces for use in producing the smoking product.

.Inatypicalcomposition. produced as indicated in the flowsheet of Fig. 1, a ball mill is charged with 125 parts of ground bagasse and 10.00. parts byweight ofiwater to which are added 20 parts byfweight of Water soluble polyvinyl..alcohol and 40,parts by Weight of glycerine. ,After 4. hours of grinding in the ball mill, this composition was sheeted wherebya continuous sheet was obtained wherein substantially all of. the bagasse was, in .a colloidal. con- The sheet had excellent shredded into a formsuitable for smoking. The shredded .material was enclosed within a wrapper forming a been found in the smoke.

.The methods. by which. the. products,,of the present inventionmaybe produced are, in general,,the same or 'similarto-those employed in producing certain tobacco Iproductsrsince the bagasse may be ground in aball mill such as ,thatused in the methods described in the patents lto Wells et al. No.,2,433,877 andjSowaet al. No.72,485,670,

issued January 6, 1948 and October 25, 1949, respectively.

QHowever, thematerial-employed inproducing colloidal films havingthe characteristic and desirable smoking and physical properties of thepresent'invention is ,bagasse. ,Neverthelessthe grindingstepsand methods of procedure described in said patents may be us e d to advantage in treating bagasse to produce an entirely new and different type of smoking product whichis devoid of tobacco, nicotine and most, if not all, of the constituents of tobacco which are said to be injurious to health.

5 The product of the present invention is therefore desirable as a pleasant and relaxing smoking material which may be employedin-theform-of cigarettes, cigars or a pipe .smoking material. .Itmay. further, be-iusedo as. a chewing product ..or..asa powdered. product usable: in the same manner as snufi.

The particular form ,andgsize of the. sheets or shreds of material andthe .thickness thereof can, of course, be varied. Furthermore,"the amount of colloidal material containedin .the .,product.,may..be .varied byincreasing or ,decreasingthe..period of grindingor treatment in a ball mill, colloid mill .or other, dispersing equipment used. In general, it is desirable to have at least 50% ofthe bagasse in, a colloidal,form-of;.the, corpuscular type in. the film. For,best.results,,70% ,or more of, the ,product shouldbe in the.corpuscularcolloidal type and the balance should consist. of fibers of minute. dimensions.

While the compositionsof the present invention pref- .erablylconsist.substantiallyentirely .of bagasse itv will be apparent that a-minonpercentageof film forming material,

humectants, fillers .andthe like maybe present. Conventional flavoring ,agents sweetening agents and casing iagentsqalso. may beusedfor ,thepurpose of imparting desired physical properties to. the product, whereas special agents foralteringor improving the flavor, aroma or other characteristicsto the smoke may beadded to the product.

,Nevertheless,.for most purposes, the only vegetable material .contained.vin.,-the product .is bagasse and it is the colloidalbagasse. of the corpuscular type. which constitutes theprincipal smoke :forming and aroma and taste impart- ,ing properties. to,v the product.

' itv will thus .be ,apparent that the methodsof. production and the. composition of .the, productare capable of considerablevariation Without. departing from the .spirit: and scope .of' the invention.

49 What I claim is:

v1. A tobacco substitute, theamajor portion of which consists of bagasse in corpuscular colloidal form.

2. A tobacco substitute wherein the sole vegetable material consists of bagasse at least 50% of which is in 4a a corpuscular colloidally dispersed form.

. 3. The method ofproducinga tobacco substitute which comprises the steps, of subjecting bagasse to a dispersing operation by ,grinding in an aqueous medium-until at least 50% ofthe bagasse is reduced toacorpuscular colloidal condition, casting the resulting dispersion into the form of a film, and drying saidfilm.

4. A tobacco substitute consisting of sheeted colloidally dispersed bagasse wherein the major portion of the bagasse is in the form of corpuscular type colloidal particles.

D0 5. A, tobacco substitute comprising bagasse which has been ground in an aqueous medium until reduced to a corpuscular type of. colloid, andthereafter sheeted and dried.

-References: fitted in the file of this patent :UNITED STATES PATENTS Wells 'Ian. 17, 1933 Koree "Nov.-20, 1951 Frankenburg et al. Apr. 15, 1952 OTHER REFERENCES 

1. A TOBACCO SUBSTITUTE, THE MAJOR PORTION OF WHICH CONSISTS OF BAGASSE IN CORPUSCULAR COLLOIDAL FORM. 